The prosperity of the coffee industry is inseparable from the promotion of various professional competitions. These competitions not only promote coffee culture but also make the profession of barista more standardized and professional. Every year, many contestants from different countries around the world participate in the competition. Among them, the seven most influential world-class competitions cover multiple fields such as barista, brewing, latte art, roasting, cupping, coffee and spirits, and Turkish coffee. This article will introduce the positioning and competition systems of these events one by one, and focus on sorting out the development history, advancement rules, and past champion data of the World Barista Championship (WBC), helping coffee enthusiasts fully understand the landscape and charm of international coffee competition. [more…]

Heytea recently officially announced the launch of its first "A-Xi Full-Body Portrait Collection Contest," inviting fans to participate by drawing the Heytea logo—the full-body portrait of A-Xi—with the top prize worth over 9,999 yuan. The submission period ended on October 15, and thousands of entries have been received across various platforms. The total views of related topics on Weibo and Xiaohongshu have exceeded 10 million, and the grand prize will be announced on October 31. Interestingly, on the eve of the event's launch, the Heytea logo quietly went "bald"—the black hair was removed, and the fingers holding the cup disappeared, sparking a frenzy of complaints from netizens. This article reviews the iterative journey of the Heytea logo from its founding to the present, including last year's viral full-body portrait creations by netizens and the April cross-border collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara that saw the logo struck by lightning into an afro, analyzing how the brand interacts with consumers through its logo to accumulate brand equity. For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex. [more…]

Every year, global coffee production is enormous, and different regions and processing methods give coffee beans an endless variety of flavors. Rather than trying blindly, many enthusiasts choose to buy award-winning beans from competitions directly, which ensures quality and lets them experience the award-winning flavors. Coffee farmers also hope to achieve good rankings through competitions to increase the selling price and reputation of their green beans. However, a specialty coffee evaluation in Yunlin County, Taiwan, for self-produced beans was disrupted by a computer system failure that scrambled the codes linking entrants to coffee beans, causing errors in the previously announced rankings: a Grand Prize winner became a Gold Award winner, drawing attention. The organizers urgently corrected the list and promised to pay the bonus difference, but the credibility of the competition still faces a test. [more…]

The SCA recently published the latest rules and regulations for the 2024 World Barista Championship. Overall, the changes are not extensive; they mainly focus on further clarifying the wording regarding the judging process, conflict-of-interest declarations, and milk selection, while also adjusting the method for evaluating the tactile assessment of espresso. For coffee professionals and enthusiasts who follow the direction of the competition, these detailed changes may directly affect competitors' preparation strategies and judges' officiating standards. This article will sort through the key points of the rule changes one by one to help readers quickly grasp the key adjustment directions of this year's WBC. [more…]

Oatly, the oat milk brand, has once again taken aim at the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), publicly questioning that the World Barista Championship (WBC) rule allowing only cow's milk is outdated. Oatly published an open letter on its official website, emphasizing that oat milk is more environmentally friendly and more favored by consumers, and demanding that the SCA immediately revise the rules. However, this move did not win support from netizens; instead, it triggered a large number of rebuttals. This article will walk you through the ins and outs of the incident, along with Front Street Coffee's professional perspective. Whether you are a coffee professional or an enthusiast, this debate about plant milk versus cow's milk is worth paying attention to. [more…]

For many office workers, buying a cup of coffee in the office building and bringing it back to their workstation has long become part of the daily rhythm. Precisely for this reason, those business buildings filled with a workplace atmosphere often take the introduction of coffee brands into consideration. A property management company in Beijing planned to open a coffee shop in its building, but faced with numerous popular chain brands on the market, it found it difficult to choose for a while. Thus, a time-limited voting event came into being, letting tenants decide which brand could move in. Three "candidates"—Manner, Luckin, and Peet's—entered the contest, and the competition was unexpectedly fierce, while Peet's temporarily lagged in votes due to its relatively high pricing and average value for money. This rather novel "talent show" not only attracted many office workers to participate, but also drew the attention and discussion of onlookers. [more…]

Latte, cappuccino, flat white, and Dirty all rely on milk, but what would the final taste be if you swapped in soy milk, milk powder, banana milk, Wangzai milk, or AD calcium milk? This time, Front Street Coffee made lattes one by one using five types of non-fresh milk ingredients, all with Front Street Espresso Blend · Strawberry Candy Espresso, using a 1:5 coffee-to-milk ratio for a hot-and-cold comparison, focusing on aroma integration, sweetness, smoothness of mouthfeel, milk foam performance, and whether it is suitable for latte art. The article not only preserves parameters that can be directly replicated, but also gives judgments on the pros and cons of each ingredient, making it a reference for enthusiasts who want to make specialty coffee at home or in a shop. [more…]

Flat White is now a regular on specialty coffee shop menus, but its definition varies widely depending on region and how individual baristas interpret it. Some emphasize the small cup size, some stress the thin microfoam, and others insist on a double ristretto. This article sorts through the controversies over the origin of the Flat White, its specific differences from a latte and a cappuccino in cup size, foam thickness, and the coffee-to-milk ratio, and cites the actual practices of people working in the industry in Australia, the UK, Ecuador, and elsewhere. It also introduces the flavor performance of two coffee beans—Front Street Coffee's specialty blend and Front Street Coffee's commercial blend—when used to make milk coffee, helping coffee lovers be clearer about what they want when ordering or making one themselves. [more…]

Once the Beginning of Autumn passes, the scent of autumn quietly seeps into daily life. Just as summer belongs to coconut coffee, autumn has its own signature flavor—osmanthus. This time, Front Street Coffee is bringing out all its treasured osmanthus coffee recipes, including three special creations: osmanthus cold brew, osmanthus americano, and osmanthus latte. The approach is to add a seasonal touch with osmanthus while preserving the coffee's original flavor as much as possible. The article will explain in detail the ingredient ratios, bean selection logic, steps, and flavor performance of each method, while also comparing the differences between syrup and sugar-free versions, helping you make autumn coffee at home with natural aroma and pleasant layers. [more…]

After Starbucks launched its Quick Order customization service last year, netizens began playing with homophonic puns in the name field, and surname puns quickly went viral, trending on Weibo. Over half a year later, this trend reached new heights in Guangdong thanks to Cantonese homophones, with all kinds of quirky yet down-to-earth names leaving people in stitches. This article takes you through the origins and explosive popularity of Starbucks homophone memes, showing how friends in Cantonese-speaking regions turned ordering into a hilarious creative contest, while exploring why these puns strike such a strong chord. [more…]

Every year on April 22, World Earth Day, Starbucks launches a bring-your-own-cup free coffee event, and this year is no exception. This time-limited, unlimited free coffee feast attracted many coffee lovers, who all brought all kinds of bizarre containers to "get freebies." From frying pans to buckets, from rice cookers to stainless steel basins, netizens' creativity is both amusing and endearing. The first 40 people could also get a free upgrade to a medium almond latte, which added even more temptation. This article takes you through the highlights of this year's event, to see which "outstanding" contestants' cups can become classics, while also experiencing the environmental protection concept advocated by Starbucks. [more…]

Geisha coffee is known as the "goddess" of the specialty coffee world. Its intense floral and fruity aroma, bright acidity, and lingering aftertaste attract countless enthusiasts. However, Geisha often sells for astronomical prices, and a single cup is hard to come by. This article will guide you through the origin and characteristics of the Geisha variety, analyze the multiple reasons behind its persistently high price, and recommend related products from Front Street Coffee, giving you a comprehensive understanding of this rising coffee star. [more…]

Every year on Earth Day, Starbucks launches a free coffee promotion for customers who bring their own cups, drawing a large crowd of coffee lovers who show up with all kinds of containers. This year the event fell on a Monday, yet many people still lined up early, aiming straight for the top 30 oat lattes. Among the crowd were creative containers like pots and pans, rice cookers, and pickle jars, and even cups from brands like Luckin and Manner made a "cameo" appearance. This brief and joyful freebie frenzy was both a show of support for environmental protection and a display of coffee fans' humor and enthusiasm. Though the event has ended, everyone looks forward to meeting again next year. [more…]

The innovations in the new-style tea beverage industry lately seem to be getting more and more baffling. From goji berry milk tea that lets you enjoy both health and happiness, to completely unrelated concoctions like snail rice noodle milk tea and Chongqing hot pot milk tea, to even more off-putting ones like roast duck milk tea, Lao Gan Ma milk tea, fish mint and cilantro lemon tea, and even raw-marinated hairy crab milk tea... These drinks not only feature bizarre ingredients, but some also let you choose the broth base, toppings, and spice level, as if a whole dish has been packed into a cup. Faced with these wildly imaginative combinations, we can't help but ask: Is the bottom line for beverage innovation really just that you'll survive after drinking it? Isn't it nice to just enjoy a normal milk tea with toppings? [more…]

The World Barista Championship is the highest-level competitive stage in the coffee industry, where competitors convey the multi-dimensional charm of coffee to professional judges through exquisite skill and vivid expression. In 2022, Anthony Douglas from Axil Coffee Roasters in Melbourne, Australia, took the crown at the WBC held in Melbourne. This barista, a high school dropout who started out in the deli section of a Spanish restaurant, went from regional competitions all the way to world champion in seven years. This article reviews his growth experience, competition preparation details, and winning performance, and shares his understanding of the role of a barista. [more…]

Geisha is called "geisha coffee" because its pronunciation resembles the Japanese word for "geisha," and it is the most legendary variety in the specialty coffee world. It originated in the wild forests of Ethiopia, passed through Tanzania and Costa Rica, and finally shone brilliantly at Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama, winning the Best of Panama cupping competition from 2005 to 2007 in succession and taking first place in the SCAA International Coffee of the Year cupping contest, with auction prices once reaching $130 per pound. Geisha green beans are blue-green in color and slender in shape, and are known for floral aromas and tropical fruit sweetness. Panamanian Geisha is extremely demanding regarding its growing environment, requiring high altitude, cloud and mist shading, and fertile soil. In addition to explaining the history and flavor characteristics of Geisha, this article will also recommend three high-quality and cost-effective Geisha coffee beans based on Front Street Coffee's sales rankings. [more…]

For many years, single-origin coffee has been practically synonymous with specialty coffee; from coffee shops to the World Coffee Championships, single-origin beans have been highly revered. However, over the past year, the global specialty coffee market and top competitions have quietly shifted direction, and high-quality blended coffee beans are returning to the spotlight. Behind this shift are both the practical pressures of climate and transportation costs and consumers' fundamental demand for stable, balanced flavors. This article will examine, from the perspectives of market trends, competition cases, and blending expertise, why the specialty coffee world is no longer blindly pursuing single origins, and how blended coffee is shedding its low-quality label to become the industry's new focus. [more…]

This year marks the 9th year since "Huakui Coffee" rose to fame. If the previous naming conventions were followed, the Huakui released this year should logically carry a "9.0" suffix. But more than half the year has passed, and many friends have noticed that "Huakui 9.0" is almost nowhere to be seen on the menus of offline coffee shops! [more…]

Specialty coffee drinks are becoming increasingly common in specialty cafés, and their high prices and rich flavors attract many consumers. Yet many people, after drinking them, can't taste the coffee at all and even call them "sweet water," which raises the question: why are these specialty drinks so expensive? This article starts from the definition of a specialty drink, sorts out its two main types originating from the WBC creative beverage, analyzes the reasons for the high price, discusses whether a specialty drink is worth it, and shares how to choose Front Street Coffee beans and extraction methods based on flavor pairings when recreating it at home. [more…]

In recent years at the World Coffee Brewing Championship, competitors have frequently used low-temperature water for brewing, and even champion brewers have shared similar approaches. In fact, this isn't truly cold water, but a variable-temperature brewing method using water cooler than conventional hot water—extracting coffee in stages with multiple water temperatures to regulate the speed and amount of soluble compounds dissolving, thereby achieving the ideal flavor. This article shares three common and practical variable-temperature brewing methods: the bloom variable-temperature method, the final-stage variable-temperature method, and the immersion variable-temperature method. Using Panama Geisha and Finca La Frontera Sidra as examples, Front Street provides detailed parameters such as water temperature, grind size, and coffee-to-water ratio to help you easily try it at home. [more…]